


We Almost Got It Right

by static_abyss



Category: Spartacus Series (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-01
Updated: 2014-01-01
Packaged: 2018-01-07 02:08:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1114266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/static_abyss/pseuds/static_abyss
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Castus says he'll pretend to be Agron's boyfriend, Saxa is mad Agron didn't ask her—even though he explained the being gay thing—and Agron would rather be dating Nasir. But no one, not even Duro, is going to be the one to tell Nasir.</p>
            </blockquote>





	We Almost Got It Right

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Zolatte](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zolatte/gifts).



> Happy Holidays to zolatte! I hope you had a wonderful time. Thanks to M for yelling out random titles with me until one fit and for putting up with my unique inspiration gathering techniques. Thanks always to tsk for answering all the emails and for giving me the idea for this fic even though it fit none of what she sent me.

Agron hates to ask Castus for any favors. Not because he and Castus don't get along, because they do. It's just that he and Castus have a sort of competitive frat boy thing going on that they never outgrew from their college days. It didn't help that they were in different fraternities back in college, or that they work for the same bodyguard agency now and argue all the time about who has the more important clients. They also live together, which means Agron gets to watch the number of guys Castus brings home, while he himself sits on their couch with Duro.

Agron's not jealous. He's just tired of Castus's mess and of the very satisfied expression on Castus's face the next morning. Duro says Agron's just mad because Castus won't sleep with him, but Agron never said he wanted to sleep with Castus. All of that, though, makes it harder for Agron to actually ask Castus to be his date for their family holiday gathering.

"You could just go alone," Duro says, sitting on Agron's bed.

Agron is sitting on his black and red desk chair in front of his desk, his black Asus laptop open to the email from his mother. Agron spins his chair around to face Duro, who's shoving dirty clothes off Agron's bed. There are more clothes in piles along the edges of the room, a cup by the bedside table, and a mess of cables spread out across the floor between Agron's desk and his bed. The bed takes up most of the space in the middle of the room, the closet to the right, and the connecting bathroom to the left. Agron's bedroom door is next to his desk and closed.

"I'm in my mid-twenties," Agron says. "Ma expects me to go with someone."

Duro rolls his eyes, but Agron knows it's not because Agron's choosing Castus as his date. Duro had secretly liked Castus way before Agron did, but had been unpleasant because whatever Agron hated back in college, Duro hated too. They'd come a long way from the dumb kids they were in college, and the three of them were living together now, much to the amusement of their friends. So it's not Catus Duro has a problem with. It's the fact that Agron needs a pretend boyfriend for their family dinner.

"You do know none of this would be happening if you could just shut up about Nasir for two fucking seconds," Duro says.

"Shut the fuck up," Agron says, throwing the nearest t-shirt at Duro.

"That's what I was trying to tell you all through thanksgiving dinner. Ma thinks you're bringing Nasir."

"Why?" Agron asks, panicking.

"Because you wouldn't shut up about how much you wanted to fuck Nasir all through dinner. It was embarrassing."

"Don't be an idiot," Agron says, rolling his eyes.

Duro ignores him and keeps talking, but Agron isn't paying attention. He can hear Castus singing something about love in high places through the bathroom door. Agron doesn't remember much of Thanksgiving dinner because Nasir had been texting him. Now that he thinks about it, he may have spent dinner giving everyone a word by word account of what he and Nasir were talking about. Agron can maybe see why his mom might have meant Nasir when she wrote "Bring your boyfriend. We'd like to meet him."

"You should just ask him." Duro is saying when Agron tunes in again. "You know you've been wanting to pretty much since you've met him."

"Are you insane?" Agron asks. He can feel how wide his eyes are as he tries to glare at Duro.

Duro stares at Agron, unimpressed. "You've been wanting to get into Nasir's pants from the second you found out Castus wasn't sleeping with him," he says.

Agron doesn't bother denying it. Things didn't happen the way Duro says, but there's nothing Agron can say that will change Duro's mind. It doesn't bother Agron because he knows Duro won't ever tell anyone else. Duro may be as much of an asshole as Agron is in most situations, but where Agron is concerned, Duro will keep quiet. Especially about Agron's embarrassing crush on Nasir, and even phrasing it that way isn't accurate.

Agron met Nasir when their college had frat and sorority night their spring semester, sophmore year. Agron had already met Castus, was in the process of disliking Castus intensely, when he met Nasir. He had been attracted to Nasir and even now it seem like Agron really had no choice.

Nasir had been wearing the school sweatshirt and black jeans. He'd worn his hair longer back then, pinned back in the middle of his head. Agron had liked Nasir's eyes, his long eyelashes that Agron noticed when he went to talk to Nasir about pledging to Agron's frat. Nasir still laughs about how terrible their first meeting had been, and even though Agron complains about how it's been years, he himself still remembers every detail.

"I can't ask Nasir," Agron says, his eyes sweeping over his room, to the framed photos hanging above the headboard. Three of the four have Nasir leaning into Agron's side, and the fourth one is of Agron's mom and dad. To be fair though, Castus is also in all three, but Castus tends to stand in between Duro and another friend, Chadara.

"Just because you messed up the first time you asked him out, doesn't mean you're going to fuck this up too."

"It wasn't that bad." 

But it was. 

"You asked him for his number because you said you needed to know where to deliver the rejection message," Duro says, shaking his head. "You told him he wasn't good enough for your frat and then you asked for his number."

"I was eighteen. He was hot," Agron says by way of explanation.

Agron had panicked, and by the time he realized why he'd messed up, he had already said it. Nasir had just looked him up and down, smirked and told Agron that he already had a frat in mind to pledge to. Agron had been on his way to bury himself under the nearest building when Nasir caught up to him. He'd given Agron his number and told him to call. 

At first it seemed like were going to go somewhere, because Agron had called and he and Nasir went out a couple of times. Nasir was fun to hang out with and he flirted back when Agron tried. But then Agron had seen Nasir with Castus's arm around his shoulders. Agron had hated Castus a little more then, and he'd assumed that they were together. When Agron backed off, Nasir assumed Agron wasn't interested, and by the time they cleared up all the misunderstandings the moment was over. 

Nasir is a good friend and part of the reason why Castus and Agron get along so well now. It was hard to hate someone Nasir liked so much, and Castus wasn't as much of a conceited asshole when Nasir was around. Agron has known Nasir for about six years now and he likes how Nasir is so willing to call Agron out on his bullshit, to roll his eyes at Agron and still be able to laugh with him. They're good together, comfortable in a way that Agron is grateful for. There is and has been no reason to change their relationship, and Agron had thought he'd gotten over the part where he wanted to date Nasir.

Except, of course, being friends with Nasir means that Agron knows intimate things about Nasir that only maybe Chadara knows. It means that Agron sometimes shares a bed with Nasir when it gets too late for either of them to make it home. They go to movies together, fight over the popcorn but still only ever get one medium. Agron always asks Nasir to be his plus one. It means that when either of them needs help with something important, the other one calls in sick to work. 

Agron didn't mean to change anything. He hadn't even noticed when sitting next to Nasir on the couch, or leaning against him when they stood together, had made his heart start jumping in his chest. Agron likes to think that it was always there and he just never noticed because he was too busy trying to be Nasir's friend. Now that he is, it's easier to pay attention to the small things because Agron doesn't have to worry about being someone Nasir likes because Nasir already does. But it could also be that it just happened because that's how it is sometimes. Like when Agron was fifteen and ended up in love with his childhood friend out of the blue. 

"Just tell him," Duro says when Agron doesn't speak. 

Agron sighs. 

Outside Castus is singing Christmas carols. 

"I can't," Agron says, "Not yet."

-

Getting Castus to agree to be Agron's pretend boyfriend is the easiest thing Agron has done all year. 

"Okay," Castus says when Agron explains about his mother's email.

Castus is sitting on their black couch, his legs up on the coffee table that Agron's mother sent them when the three of them first moved in. Agron goes over and knocks Castus's feet off the table.

"That belonged to my grandmother," he tells Castus, even as Agron sits down on the coffee table.

Duro, who is standing by the door, rolls his eyes. Castus smiles and stretches out on the couch, his dark eyes roaming over Agron. 

"Stop," Agron says. 

Castus grins, leans his elbows on Agron's knees and peers up at Agron's face. The yellow light from overhead makes it seem like Castus's dark skin is shining, and Agron admits that as far as pretend boyfriends go, he could have done worse. 

"I'm supposed to be your boyfriend," Castus says. "You need to get used to me putting my hands all over you."

Agron rolls his eyes, and moves to sit next to Castus on the couch. He says nothing when Castus puts his legs back up on the coffee table.

"Why didn't you ask Nasir?" Castus ask after a moment.

Agron stretches out, his head hanging over the back of the couch. He stares at the uneven strokes of paint on the ceiling, at the beginnings of a spider web starting from the light bulbs and going to the edge of the room. 

"Didn't think he'd want to," Agron says.

Castus breathes out hard through his nose and shakes his head.

"Tell me about it," Duro says to Castus.

"Get the fuck out," Agron says in Duro's vague direction. 

"Just ask him." Castus turns to meet Agron's eyes. "You two are good together."

Agron can see the seriousness that is often absent from Castus's expression. It makes the room seem smaller, as if the air were trying to choke Agron. He can picture the way Nasir would laugh if Agron told him that he needed a pretend boyfriend. 

"And if not," Castus says, winking. "I make a good boyfriend."

Agron knocks their shoulders together and the moment distracts him from thoughts of Nasir. For now, it's the best Agron can hope for.

-

Saxa finds out the very next day because Duro can't keep his mouth shut for shit. 

"It wasn't me," Duro yells from his locked bedroom when Saxa starts yelling and pounding on their door. 

"Fuck you," Agron yells back.

Castus may flirt with anything that doesn't run away from him first, but he wouldn't say anything. Agron also knows that Duro talked to Saxa, and she's vicious when she wants to know something. So it's not all Duro's fault, because he never stood a chance.

"Open the fucking door," Saxa calls. 

Agron yanks the door open and Saxa shoves her way inside. She heads straight for their kitchen, makes a face at the stack of dirty dishes in the sink, and opens the fridge.

"There's nothing in here," she says, glaring at Agron. 

He shrugs. Saxa slams the fridge shut and gives Agron an unimpressed look.

"I heard you were taking Castus to your mom's place," she says, making her way out of the kitchen and into the living room. 

Agron watches as Saxa trails her fingers along the wall. Her walk seems careless, but Agron knows she's thinking, working away at how she's going to pull whatever she wants out of Agron. This is why Agron likes Saxa as far away from him as possible, and out of all his friends only Mira and Gannicus are insane enough to want to deal with her voluntarily. 

"Why are you taking Castus to meet your parents?" she asks, dropping down on the living room couch.

"None of your business," Agron answers.

Saxa lets it go and sprawls out on the couch. She reaches over to dig the remote out from between the couch cushions and turns on the TV. There's a news broadcast, but Saxa doesn't change the channel.

"Duro said you needed someone to eat the extra food," Saxa says. "And you're not taking Nasir."

Agron raises his eyebrows and waits for Saxa to go on. 

"I like your mom's cooking. Her food was the reason I talked to you in college."

"And?"

Saxa glares. "If you weren't going to take your boyfriend then you shouldn't have taken Castus."

Agron ignores the way his head pounds at the reference to Nasir as his boyfriend. "Who the hell was I going to take?" he asks. " _You_?"

Saxa just stares.

"Fucking seriously, Saxa," Agron tells her. "My fucking babysitter knew I was into dick before I did. I can't take you."

"It's a free steak dinner, asshole. I've put up with your shit for years. I fucking deserve that dinner."

Agron shakes his head. He's not sure if this is Saxa's way of finding out what Agron is doing, or if she really did just want the steak dinner.

"Who said we were having steak?" Agron asks.

"I didn't say shit," comes Duro's call from down the hall.

-

Mira calls Agron an hour after Saxa leaves and Agron finds himself in a three way call with Mira and Chadara. He's not sure how he ended up being the one to call Chadara when it was Mira who wanted her on the line. But Agron has learned not question Mira or how she gets things done. He' resigned himself to never understanding women in general.

"Tell him," Chadara says. 

Agron is sitting on the floor outside of Duro's room. He's waiting for Duro to come out so Agron can do _something_ to him. If Agron's being honest though, he's too tired to care anymore. His friends and his brother mean well, but this thing with Nasir is serious. It's important to Agron that he stay friends with Nasir, because that means more to Agron than whatever he feels at the moment.

"I can't," Agron tells Chadara.

"We all see the way you look at him," Mira says.

Agron pulls the phone away and frowns at it. He can feel the sleepless night ahead of him. He'll probably end up at the gym, maybe wake up Castus and Duro just to be an asshole. 

"Don't worry," Chadara is saying when Agron puts the phone back by his ear. "He looks at you the same way."

Agron doesn't say anything for the longest time. He can feel each beat of his heart, slow and steady. He's surprised that his heart isn't going crazy, but it figures he'd be so calm when shit like this happened.

"Just go for it," Mira says. "I promise it won't be as bad as you think."

Agron mumbles something before he hangs up. He puts his phone down in front of Duro's room and hopes Duro will at least step on it on his way to the bathroom. Then he goes to his room, drops down on his bed, and stares at the mess on his desk until he falls asleep.

That night he sleeps better than he has in the weeks since Agron got his mother's email.

-

Nasir finds out two days after Saxa comes to see Agron. It was going to happen because Agron's friends are a bunch of assholes who don't know how to keep their mouths shut. It's three days after Christmas and three days before the dinner. Castus and Duro went out to buy late Christmas presents before Castus's job tonight. He's working with an actress who does mostly independent films, but their group of friends have a bet on how long it'll take for her to make it big. 

Agron is off from work until the second week of January when Castus takes his vacation. They've found that when Agron and Castus are together in confined spaces for prolonged periods of time, they either do really stupid things together or end up almost killing each other. It's not much of a vacation when one of them dislocates their shoulder because they don't want to let the other win. So they take separate vacations unless Duro or Nasir are there. 

It's nice to have the apartment to himself, Agron thinks, especially since no one will leave him alone about the pretend boyfriend thing. His friends think it isn't going to work, and when Crixus found out, he'd rolled his eyes, called Agron and idiot and walked out of the room. But Crixus can go fuck himself as far as Agron is concerned. He's more worried that Castus is going to overdo it on the affection and Agron is going to have to punch him in the face in the middle of dinner. 

Agron tries not to think about it too hard as he makes his way out of his room and into the living room. The place is clean the way it always is near the holidays. All of them make an extra effort to clean in case they decide to have people over at their apartment. They never do because Spartacus has the most room, but it's tradition now. 

There are even lights lining the bookshelf in the living room and around the TV. Duro put them up two days before Christmas, the same night Castus and Agron dragged a tree in from Gannicus's bar, where they were working as bouncers as a favor for Gannicus. The tree was dying in the corner of the bar, and now it's in their living room, half of the branches turning yellow at the tips. 

The bottom branches are weighed down by candy canes Naevia sent them because she's a saint. The top part of the tree is covered in different colored tinsel, and there is a single string of lights going down the middle of the tree. What's left of the branches have souvenirs that the three of them picked out since their college days, stuffed animals that they never bothered to throw away, and old toys that found their way in their apartment for reasons no one can remember. It's the ugliest tree Agron has ever seen in his life, but every year they put up a different version of the same tree. The Christmas ornaments that should go on the tree are tapped to the windows next to the tree, and the Christmas wreath is in the middle of the coffee table. The remote control is decorated with gift wrap paper, and that's as far the three of them ever go in terms of decorating for the holidays. 

There's a knock at the door just as Agron is kicking someone's t-shirt underneath the couch. He takes another quick look around the living room, into the kitchen as he makes his way down the hallway, and to the door. 

"Nasir?" he asks, yanking the door open and looking around above Nasir's head just to be an asshole.

Nasir makes to punch him in the stomach, so Agron moves out of the way. He's grinning even as Nasir takes his jacket off and drops it on the floor by the door. 

"What do you want?" Nasir asks, his face serious, but Agron knows better than to think Nasir's mad.

"Don't make a mess," Agron tells him, letting his eyes trail down over Nasir to where his jacket is lying on the floor.

Agron has to look back when his brain registers what Nasir is wearing. It's one of the Christmas sweaters Agron bought him for his birthday. It's a dark green that looks almost black from a distance, with a lighter green Christmas tree in the middle. There's red and white on the sweater's tree that's meant to look like tinsel on a Christmas tree and a yellow star on top. 

"What the fuck?" Agron asks.

Nasir just smiles at him, leaves his jacket on the floor, and goes into the living room. He's sitting on the couch and staring at the peppermint gift wrap on the remote when Agron follows. He tosses Nasir's jacket on the coffee table, on top of the wreath and shrugs when Nasir nods at the remote.

"Duro and Castus picked out the pattern," Agron says. 

"And is that the tree you stole from Gannicus?" Nasir asks.

Agron grins, self-satisfied. 

"You and Castus," Nasir says, shaking his head. "How does Duro put up with you?"

"Same way you put up with us," Agron says.

Agron is on his way to take the space next to Nasir on the couch when Nasir gets up. He moves towards the Christmas tree and peers at the things hanging from the branches.

"Is that a Transformers?"

"Probably," Agron says. 

"You have a Transformers on your Christmas tree," Nasir says, looking over his shoulder at Agron.

"You have an ugly Christmas sweater," Agron says, widening his eyes at Nasir.

"It's Christmas," Nasir tells him.

"Christmas was three days ago."

"It's New Years."

Agron can feel the wide smile on his face, the way it tugs at the corners of his mouth and almost hurts. Nasir is smiling at him, a teasing tilt to his head as if he's daring Agron to say something. 

"New Years is three days from now," Agron says, giving in.

"So is your dinner," Nasir says.

Nasir is still smiling, but Agron isn't. He moves around the couch to stand next to Nasir, and shrugs. 

"Castus?" Nasir asks, raising his eyebrows. "You're going to take Castus, really? You do know he's going to flirt with all your cousins, right?"

"I know, but there's no one else to go with me." Agron says, rolling his eyes, something about Nasir's words putting him at ease again.

"You could have just asked me," Nasir says.

Agron says nothing as he stares at their Christmas tree. He can feel Nasir's eyes on him like a brand, hot against the side of his face. He's well aware of how close they are, Agron leaning back against the couch arm so that Nasir can lean against him comfortably if he wanted. There's a jolt of something softer than static that goes up Agron's spine when Nasir knocks his shoulder against Agron's arm. Agron isn't nineteen and stupid anymore. He knows what that means. He's just not sure where Nasir stands in all of this. 

"You know I'd go with you," Nasir goes on. He doesn't say anything about how Agron is refusing to look at him, and Agron is grateful.

"I know," Agron says, finally. 

When he looks away from the Christmas tree, Nasir is staring back at him. Agron catches sight of the sweater again and can't help his laugh. "I hate your sweater," he says.

"It's Christmas," Nasir shrugs. "Deal with it."

"Oh, it's Christmas," Agron says, and when Nasir doesn't interrupt, he goes on. "Sit down. It's Christmas."

Nasir does, but gets back up when he sees Agron leaving the room.

"What are you doing?" Nasir asks.

"Christmas," Agron says, heading for the kitchen.

There's a cup in the sink, but Agron remembers that Duro put the dishwasher on that morning. He pulls out a pan, because they don't own pots and digs around in their fridge for chocolate syrup. He turns on the electric stove and puts the pan on top of it, adds milk and grins at the confusion on Nasir's face.

"What?" Nasir asks, shaking his head at Agron.

"Hot chocolate," Agron says. "We have marshmallows and shit somewhere."

They find marshmallows behind the cereal in the cupboards above the stove. There are two cans of whipped cream in the fridge, and Agron takes out both. He burns the milk, but adds extra chocolate syrup to make up for it. 

"This is serious shit," Agron tells Nasir, who won't stop laughing as Agron pours out the milk into their cups.

"Yeah, I know," Nasir says, but he's still smiling when they go back to the living room.

Agron himself hasn't stopped smiling for long since Nasir came. He never does when Nasir is around and it's nice, the same way it always is. 

They sit down on the couch, and Nasir turns on the TV as Agron goes to take some candycanes off the tree. He tosses one to Nasir and puts the other one in his own cup. There's barely any room left for the marshmallows with all the whipped cream, but it's not hot chocolate if there aren't marshmallows.

"You're going to die," Nasir says, when he sees Agron's cup. 

"I'll be happy," Agron says, grinning over his cup as he takes a sip.

It's too sweet, but the milk doesn't taste weird so Agron's counting it as a win. Next to him, Nasir has his legs up on the coffee table on top of his jacket and the wreath. 

"Castus bought that," Agron says.

"Castus can buy another one. He has important clients that give him money."

"My clients are important," Agron says, automatically. 

"How?" Nasir asks, sitting sideways on the couch so that he's facing Agron. "How are you going to take him to meet your parents? When your mom starts talking about how much she loves his smile, you're going to punch him in the face."

"I can control myself," Agron says, his frown softened because he's with Nasir.

Nasir gives him a disbelieving look and goes back to picking a show to watch.

"I can," Agron says, turning to the TV. "Or I could take you."

"You should," Nasir says.

Agron looks over at Nasir, who's still watching the TV. He watches as the light from the TV sets Nasir's profile into sharp relief. Agron just watches Nasir, and he can't help the way he gets carried away with thinking about them. They'd be good together, he knows. Everyone has told Agron that more than once, and Chadara insists that Nasir feels the same way Agron does. But assuming things about Nasir is what fucked it all up in the first place and Agron doesn't want that.

He wants this: stupid Christmas sweaters and hot chocolate made with burnt milk. He wants Nasir pressed against his side, closer than they are now. Agron wants his mom to meet Nasir and like him better than she likes Agron. He wants his dad to take him and Nasir fishing so that Agron can watch how Nasir walks around half asleep well into the morning. He wants Duro to make stupid jokes, and Castus to pretend to be hurt that Agron dumped him as his pretend boyfriend.

He just wants Nasir.

"Go out with me," Agron says.

"Okay," Nasir says, without hesitation, finally stopping on a cop show.

Agron stares, his heart beating wildly in his chest. He doesn't know how to tell Nasir to look at him, but he doesn't need to because Nasir just _knows_. Agron can see the way Nasir is fighting a smile, and it's perfect the way Nasir is so in control because Agron doesn't know what to do with himself. So he does nothing, just sits on the couch and lets Nasir lean his head on Agron's chest as they watch TV.

**Author's Note:**

> Alternate titles for this were: Ugly Christmas Tree, Christmas Was Three Days Ago, and Wait Until Gannicus Finds Out.


End file.
